National on September 16th working parents It’s a day to celebrate the Americans who are not only raising the next generation, but also joining the workforce, supporting their families and helping keep the U.S. economy going. Being a working parent is not uncommon — 89.1% of family members There is at least one parent in the workforce — working parents face unique challenges. And these challenges are becoming more complex as we move through difficult times economically, politically and environmentally.
In a time of unprecedented inflation, political partisanship and dire environmental warnings, Historically inadequate social safety netsbeing a parent may have never been more difficult.
Working parents struggle in many ways. So, in honor of Working Parents Day, here are 14 things working parents want the world to know.
1. The cost of raising children is crushing working parents
Recent analysis We found that most families expect to spend at least 20% of their total income on childcare. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, prices for everything from private babysitters to daycare centers to in-home daycares have risen at an alarming rate, and in his first year of lockdown, he Nearly 16,000 childcare centers have been closed. — Nearly 10% fewer childcare centers available across the country.
Finding a safe, reliable, and close-by childcare center can be a daunting task and almost impossible to pay for.
More than 20% of families have had one parent choose to leave the workforce to care for themselves, resulting in significant loss of income and financial security.
Nearly half of families have cut back on food costs for childcare, and 31% of parents are considering a side job. To cover the cost of childcare, which is heavily funded by governments in other developed countries.
2. Working parents struggle to pay for necessities
Inflation is the word of the day, and has been since the beginning of the year. last 12 monthsfood prices rose 11.4% and energy prices rose almost 20%.
According to a recent study by the Center for Law and Social Policy: 66% of parents Those who received child tax credits struggled to pay for groceries after their payments were overdue.
3. Working Parents Have No Federal Vacation Leave
As a one-of-a-kind resident 8 countries in the world As in Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Suriname, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau, the absence of federal paid leave leaves American parents constantly forced to choose between their children and work.
Data where parents do not take paid leave lost $28 billion in wages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees without paid leave may lose the wages they need or be forced to come to work sick, infecting their colleagues. They may also be forced to send sick children to school.And there is a shortage of paid holidays in this country Only widening gap between rich and poor.
4. Working parents skip doctor’s visits for medical bills
recent polls About half of adults in the United States are not getting the medical or dental care they need because it’s expensive. The same poll found that a quarter of people don’t refill their prescriptions because they can’t afford it.
annual average $22,000 or more in family health insurance premiumstypically exorbitant deductibles of thousands of dollars per person paid out-of-pocket before benefits begin. It’s no surprise that 5 million people are children.
With medical costs so high, it’s no wonder many parents skip their own health care altogether and only seek care of their children in emergencies.
5. Working parents work long hours
It’s not uncommon for parents to spend money Less than 2 hours a dayand those times are usually homework, meals, and bedtime routineLong working hours, after-school activities, commutes and errands means less time to enjoy each other’s company and more time to do the basics before bed and start all over again the next day. Many companies have started offering 4 days a week — Helping working parents regain some of their work-life balance — this is currently a luxury, a white-collar privilege, not a reality for most parents.
6. Working parents worry about their children’s safety
School gun violence is rampant and kicking kids out of the house each morning is a source of fear for many parents.was there 29 school shootings that have killed 25 children so far in 2022 aloneClear backpacks and metal detectors in elementary schools are not keeping children safe and are a lax approach to US firearms laws (Where there are more guns than people) means that every time a child walks through a school door, their lives are in danger.
7. Public schools are underfunded and demanding too much
Even before COVID-19, public education was in crisis in the United States. During his decade before the Great Recession of 2007, budget cuts devastated public schools across the country. The economy stabilized, but most of that money wasn’t put back into school.
What schools do is typically wealthy schools backed by property taxes in wealthy neighborhoods, while poor schools struggle. As classes grow in size, so do problems. Child hunger, teacher shortages, growing segregation, the need for far more resources to deal with a diverse student body, and laws that hurt LGBTQ+ children. Teachers who are supposed to teach deal with poverty and inequality: starving children, children in need of basic supplies while trying to teach mathematics.
parents can homeschool and many doBut for many families, homeschooling is beyond the realm of possibility and not equally regulated. you can’t. Also, homeschooling is not cheap. Curriculum, supplies, and organization costs alone average about $2,000 per child per year. In many states, these costs are not tax deductible and there are no credits or reimbursements for home education.
8. Working parents worry they won’t be able to retire
Recent data are 50% of parents don’t have enough money to retireWhen you’re budgeting week by week, paycheck by paycheck, saving the nest egg for retirement can feel impossible.
Furthermore, the new data Adult children move home At a staggering rate, parents are burdening the bills. 35% of parents with grown children at home are digging into retirement savings to support them, and 50% of parents are paying as much as $1,000 a month for their grown children.
9. Student Loan Debt Primarily Affects Working Parents
Over 20% of families have student loan debt. That debt averages her $22,000, and monthly payments are as high as $500-$600 per month.
Most of those payments are interest. So even if the working parent consistently makes payments as agreed, the principal balance will not decrease, and in some cases even increase, making her more vulnerable than when she signed her FAFSA before her freshman year. More than 15 years of late payments.
Drowning in student loan debt means many families can’t afford to buy a home or have children, and many struggle to make ends meet President Biden’s loan forgiveness package helps address the symptoms of the student loan crisis, but it can’t solve the root causes: capitalized interest and runaway tuition.
Ten. Many working parents can’t afford to do just one job
As of 2019, 13 million Americans had multiple jobs, and most of those workers were women. Many parents are forced to earn extra income, just to achieve an end apart from what they get from their main job. Whether that means joining the gig economy for a few hours, delivering food, offering rideshares, going freelance, or taking on traditional part-time jobs. Parents take great care to pay the bills, whether they mean it or not.
With inflation at a 40-year high and costs of everything except gas continuing to rise, extra income could mean food on the table and money in the bank for needy families. there is.
11. Working parents struggle to put healthy meals on the table.
As mentioned earlier, food prices are on the rise and many parents are aware of healthy food choices. For many families, school-provided meals are the only reliable source of nutrition available. but, Pandemic era school feeding programs has ended and some states are considering Abolition of school lunchesleaving the children hungry.
Coupled with research showing that the food children eat can have long term impact From their intelligence to their physical and mental health, the pressure and guilt of not providing everything organic and grass-fed can be overwhelming.
12. Working parents struggle with the unpredictability of shift work
Parents are required to work on a fixed schedule, such as childcare or school drop-off, and it may not be possible to change the schedule. Sudden shift changes can create a domino effect of stress as parents try to accommodate inflexible schedules while ensuring that their children’s needs are met.
Moreover, studies show that if parents work shifts or have unpredictable schedules, adversely affect children, who in principle succeeds in the routine. A fair workweek law would make life much easier for shift-working parents and their children.
13. You find it impossible to be a good parent and a good worker
With a general lack of support from governments and employers, it’s impossible for parents to find a ‘work-life balance’. In our always-on modern world, the lines between work and home are entwined. Parents take work home to answer emails on Friday nights and finish papers on weekends. Refusing to spend that time working from home often stigmatizes parents as bad workers, while depriving them of family hobbies leads to labeling them as bad parents. Some countries have enacted laws such as “Right to Disconnect” — A law that provides workers with the legal right not to have to log on again after working eight hours a day. Unfortunately, there is no such law in the United States.
Work-life balance is the working parent’s unicorn, and many parents find it impossible to excel in both areas.
14. Working parents deserve more
The United States is effectively isolated by its lack of policy protections for working parents. Welfare programs exist, but they are underfunded, yellow taped, and difficult to access for many. They are often time constrained and only support the family for a certain period of time. Also, many programs require parents to work.
The United States lacks a federal paid leave program, a universal pre-k or three-k program, a universal federally funded child care program, underfunds public schools, and a strong minimum There is almost no workplace support such as wages. Or rent protection. Being a working parent is tough, but it would be a lot less difficult if the economic realities of parenting were a little more manageable.
Programs like the Child Tax Credit, which has significantly reduced child poverty and hunger, have been welcome boons, but they too have stalled and parents struggle to make sense of them for the time being. As such, working parents need help and support from governments and their communities.
